On the MSNBC show Morning Joe today co-host Joe Scarborough mocked Donald Trump for spending the majority of his time watching television and complaining like a grumpy old man in retirement.
A set of presidential schedules leaked for the second time over the weekend, and they show that Trump spends half his time in undefined “executive time,†doing things like watching TV news coverage and talking on the phone, gossiping with close friends and associates.
In response to these latest reports, Scarborough said:
“What a joke, what an absolute joke. We’ve seen one person after another working for Trump saying he often just hunkers down upstairs in the personal quarters, he spends the majority of his time watching cable news, tweeting, yelling, staring at TV sets like an old man that is in a retirement home instead of a president of the United States who is supposed to be working 24 hours a day.â€
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The president insisted in a tweet after the schedules leaked that he probably worked more than any previous president, writing:
“The media was able to get my work schedule, something very easy to do, but it should have been reported as a positive, not negative. When the term Executive Time is used, I am generally working, not relaxing. In fact, I probably work more hours than almost any past President…..â€
The media was able to get my work schedule, something very easy to do, but it should have been reported as a positive, not negative. When the term Executive Time is used, I am generally working, not relaxing. In fact, I probably work more hours than almost any past President…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2019
Scarborough also ridiculed this claim as completely ridiculous, saying:
“I’m sure most older men in retirement homes live far more active lives than does Donald Trump. But for these people to come out and suggest and for Donald Trump to suggest he’s worked harder than most any president before him is just an absolute joke.â€
Scarborough pointed out that Trump promised that he would rarely take time off from working, but instead spends most of his time watching TV as well as golfing nearly every weekend.
“Historians will record when this presidency is over that Donald Trump was the laziest president ever to occupy the Oval Office,†Scarborough said, “and did less work than any other president to ever to occupy the Oval Office — full stop.â€
Less than five minutes later, the president tweeted out an apparent response to Scarborough — whom he insists he never watches. He wrote:
“No president ever worked harder than me (cleaning up the mess I inherited)!â€
No president ever worked harder than me (cleaning up the mess I inherited)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2019
CLICK HERE to watch the Morning Joe video on YouTube
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
